1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cutinase variants, polynucleotides encoding the variants, methods of producing the variants, and methods of using the variants.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cutinases are lipolytic enzymes capable of hydrolyzing the substrate cutin. Cutinases are known from various fungi (P. E. Kolattukudy in “Lipases”, Ed. B. Borgstrom and H. L. Brockman, Elsevier 1984, 471-504) such as cutinases from Fusarium solani pisi (S. Longhi et al., Journal of Molecular Biology, 268 (4), 779-799 (1997)) and Humicola insolens (U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,719). Variants of the cutinase from Humicola insolens are known from e.g. WO00/34450.
Cutinases may be used in the polymerization of acrylates. Acrylates are industrially important compounds that have a wide range of commercial applications. The α-double bond present in these molecules can be used for polymerization to yield final products such as paints, plastics and adhesives. Traditionally, esters of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid are made chemically at elevated temperature, with polymerization inhibitors and with sulphuric acid as catalyst. Enzymatic transacylation of acrylates is a “green” option to traditional chemistry and could provide sustainable routes to acrylic esters starting from renewable sources such as glucose and lactate.
The present invention provides variants of a parent cutinase with improved properties compared to its parent, in particular variants having increased transacylation activity.